Just a reminder my blog is trans inclusive. It’s bi inclusive. It is pan inclusive. It is intersex inclusive. It is ace/asexual inclusive. It is aro/aromantic inclusive. It is queer inclusive.
I don’t support terfs or exclusionists.
If you came here looking for an ally in your bigotry you came to the wrong blog. Go away. You are not welcome here.
Thank the Russo brothers for a) shooting outside in a real setting with practical effects not CGI, for going with a shaky cam that actually added to the sense of immediacy and wasn’t annoying as fuck.
Let me tell u what makes this scene so great. It’s the fact that Steve has a match, an equal. He mows down the goons on the Lemurian Star, escapes SHIELD HQ by fighting 15 people in closed quaters, jumps off a buliding and blows up a plane, then within hours he meets up with Natasha and survives a missle strike. He has no match, no equal in this world. That’s what happens when Batroc challenges him - this scene shows us that men think they can go toe to toe with Steve but they simply can’t.
And then this scene is a rare beast. It’s an action scene that is actually a character building scene. We saw the WS blow up Fury’s car and shoot him, but that could have been any common soldier. Sam could have deployed the mine. Natasha could have taken the shot a Fury. None of them could survive in no holding back fight with Steve.
Within seconds, Bucky has Steve off of him (usually if Steve is close enough to hit you, it’s game over for you), then disarms him and uses his weapon against him. Bucky dictates the speed and the path of the fight, and while Steve tries to attack, most of the time he is dodging. This tells us the audience, several things: a. Steve is in actual danger, b. Steve, judging by his face, is scared (remember what beatings he has taken up unitl now) and therefore c. for the first time in 3 movies, Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, is not safe. The stakes are real. You are feeling the adrenaline Steve is feeling, even if you are not sure why. That’s what makes this scene a masterpiece.
here’s the thing about the hero’s journey - it happens in threes.
step one: face an opponent (Batroc). win with competence and ease.
step two: face a bigger opponent (betrayal mandatory; elevator optional). the stakes are higher. The fight is harder. they blood you. still, you win. of course you win. you’re captain america.
step three: you never saw him coming. you don’t understand why he slips inside your defences. like he how you fight, how you think.
like he knows you.
(he’s got you on the ropes)
you can’t give up, but for the first time since the ice, since the Valkyrie, since the serum, you don’t know if you’re going to be strong enough to win this fight.
then
then
you take one last desperate act, hoping he won’t see Natasha, hoping he won’t see Sam coming. you grab the mask.
and the world stops.
It’s bucky
deep down you knew it was bucky.
(who the hell is Bucky?)
he doesn’t know you.
he doesn’t know you.
for the first time since the train, you can’t breathe.
This needs to be part of our lexicon. “Jumping the shark” already exists for shows that drag on too long. Now we have “kicking dogs” for the opposite - shows that wrap up too quickly. I really hope Wheel of Time doesn’t kick the dog.
